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Sydney Morning Herald
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Aren't you worried you are being brainwashed?' The junket that left Richard's friends on edge
Sitting in a cafe in southern Taiwan, tourism graduate Richard Huang makes a frank admission. Some of his friends have questioned whether he is a tool of the Chinese Communist Party, helping to spread Beijing's worldview through his social media. On his Instagram account, Huang spruiks the Beijing-subsidised trips he has taken to places like Xinjiang, a region in China's north-west, and offers to help set up his followers on similar exchange programs targeted at Taiwanese youth. 'My friends have asked me: 'Hey, aren't you worried you are being brainwashed?'' says Huang, a pseudonym that he requested to speak openly about his experience. 'My response is: as long as you are resilient in your own mind, you won't be compromised by the influence coming from these trips.' As part of an eight-day tour to Xinjiang, Huang and about 30 other Taiwanese students and graduates were put up in 4-star hotels and treated to nightly banquets. By day, their itinerary included visits to museums and cultural activities, such as musical performances by Uyghur groups, an ethnic Muslim minority in Xinjiang. The activities were peppered with speeches from Chinese officials about Taiwan and China being 'one big family'. At one event, the group sang Tomorrow Will be Better, a Taiwanese pop song from the 1980s that has since been appropriated by Chinese state media to promote a message of unification between the democratic self-governing island and the mainland. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, even though the CCP has never controlled the island. The propaganda, Huang says, is the price participants pay for a cheap trip. He paid 20,000 Taiwanese dollars ($1043), about a 50 per cent discount, he says, with the rest subsidised by the Chinese government. But there was another subtle quid pro quo. During the tour, Chinese officials suggested the participants share their experience on social media and tell their friends that Xinjiang was not the terrible place portrayed by Taiwanese media. When he arrived back in Taiwan, Huang did just that. 'The magnificent scenes covered by a blanket of snow, the heaps of food I had, and the diversity of ethnic cultures and traditions I experienced – the list never ends, and the beauty of Xinjiang is beyond what photos and words can describe,' Huang posted on Instagram. He implored his friends to go and see for themselves. Huang made no mention of the reports, including those by the United Nations, of the brutal repression and human rights violations of the Uyghur population by Chinese authorities, claims which the Chinese government denies. Instead, he observed that the different ethnic groups got along with 'great friendliness and tolerance'. United Front campaign State-sponsored travel programs are hardly a new tool in Beijing's soft-power efforts to shape opinions in Taiwan in line with its foremost goal – to bring the island under the control of the Chinese government. But under President Lai Ching-te, the Taiwanese government has become increasingly concerned that Beijing is intensifying its propaganda, with study tours, tourism, cultural exchanges and social media influencers all spreading pro-Beijing messages to Taiwan's youth. These activities are widely suspected by Taiwanese authorities and Chinese analysts to be part of the operations of the United Front Work Department – the CCP's core influence arm that uses diaspora communities to promote Beijing's agenda overseas. China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Dr Nathan Attrill, a China specialist at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has tracked United Front activity relating to Taiwan. He identified 67 events in 2024 that sought to cultivate Taiwanese Youth and influencers, more than double the next most targeted group of businesses and entrepreneurs. 'The main themes of these sorts of events are always to emphasise a shared culture, or a shared heritage between the peoples of China and Taiwan, thereby establishing some sort of justification for why China claims to have sovereignty over Taiwan,' Attrill says. Beijing doesn't try hard to hide the United Front's involvement in these tours. The exchanges are often given effusive coverage in Chinese state media, which routinely notes the attendance of United Front officials or their associated organisations at the events. Trips to Xinjiang, a top destination for such cultural tours, serve the dual purpose of presenting a tightly orchestrated, sanitised image of the region while promoting the Chinese government's unification agenda, says Raymond Sung, vice president of the Prospect Foundation, a government-backed institute in Taipei. 'I do not support the idea of being fully controlled by China ... The only thing that I want to do is to foster cultural exchanges between the two sides.' Richard Huang 'By being a participant, you're actually sponsoring or being part of that [Chinese government propaganda],' Sung says. These kinds of exchanges, experts say, are also designed to cleave at the deep political polarisation in Taiwan. Lai's pro-independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party is reviled by Beijing as a separatist force, and bitterly opposed by Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, which favours closer ties with the mainland. Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office has accused Lai's government of inciting anti-China sentiment by 'exaggerating the so-called united front threat' and 'using all means to intimidate and suppress groups and individuals on the island who support and participate in cross-strait exchanges'. For now, Beijing's charm offensive to win the hearts and minds of Taiwan's younger generations doesn't appear to be paying off. Polling consistently shows that a clear majority of people in Taiwan identify themselves as being solely Taiwanese. This rose to as high as 83 per cent for 18-34 year-olds, compared with 15 per cent who identified as being Taiwanese-Chinese and 1 per cent who considered themselves to be solely Chinese, according to a Pew Research survey in 2024. Tensions between propaganda and free speech Nonetheless, the Lai government this year has pursued a crackdown on China's united front and espionage efforts, including tighter regulation of cross-strait exchanges and new disclosure requirements for all public servants travelling to China on such trips. In February, Taiwan banned academic exchanges with three Chinese universities, citing concerns over political influence, and in March, authorities expelled three Chinese influencers for promoting 'unification by force' narratives on their social media accounts. The authorities have since revealed they are investigating 20 Taiwanese celebrities for amplifying CCP messaging. Building on the themes of this campaign, Lai embarked this week on a 10-stop speech tour across Taiwan under the banner of 'uniting the country' in the face of China's pressure. In his first speech on Sunday, he declared 'of course Taiwan is a country' and called for its future to be decided by its 23 million citizens, infuriating Chinese authorities, which slammed his speech as 'deliberately inciting provocations'. The expulsion of the Chinese influencers has fed into a broiling debate about free speech, and the curbs Taiwan is willing to put on its own democracy to counter the tactics of its authoritarian neighbour. Chinese-born influencer Liu Zhenya, who goes by 'Yaya in Taiwan', fell foul of Taiwanese authorities for video comments she made to her 400,000 followers on Douyin (Chinese TikTok), which included praising China's military drills around the island in May 2024. She expressed hope that by morning, 'the island will already be covered with red flags', a reference to China's flag. Taiwanese authorities deemed she had crossed a red line in advocating 'the elimination of our country's sovereignty'. 'There are limits to freedom of speech, and the limits are the country's survival,' Taiwan's Premier Cho Jung-tai said at the time. While Yaya's expulsion was celebrated in Taiwan's pro-independence circles, it was met with concerns about overreach in others. A group of 75 scholars co-signed a statement saying that democracy and the rule of law were 'facing unprecedented damage and threats' under the DPP's crackdown. Separately, academics Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu queried whether Yaya's videos, whilst repulsive in their view, were sufficient to constitute a national security threat and noted that any evidence of her CCP links had not been made public. Her deportation, they wrote on their blog, had 'only served to divide an already incredibly polarised society more, at a time when unity is more important than ever in the face of Chinese aggression'. ' Building a positive image of China' Huang is not an influencer. Nor, he says, is he a member of a political party, though he doesn't support Lai's DPP. His Instagram account has just 2200 followers, and he hasn't parroted Beijing's unification narrative. 'I do not support the idea of being fully controlled by China where we lose all of our freedoms,' he says. 'The majority of Taiwan will not accept this'. But he has become a facilitator, helping would-be participants navigate the online back-channels to those who organise the cultural tours, a role he says he receives no payment for, or any other in-kind benefit. There is nothing illegal in doing this, though he faces potential backlash from the online pro-independence crowd. Huang says he is not naive to the fact that the key reason Beijing funds such trips is to promote its unification agenda, and concedes his glowing testimonials feed its propaganda machine. 'The only thing that I want to do is to foster cultural exchanges between the two sides,' he says. 'If you're asking if that helps build a positive China image, then yes, that certainly is the case.'
The Age
4 hours ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘Aren't you worried you are being brainwashed?' The junket that left Richard's friends on edge
Sitting in a cafe in southern Taiwan, tourism graduate Richard Huang makes a frank admission. Some of his friends have questioned whether he is a tool of the Chinese Communist Party, helping to spread Beijing's worldview through his social media. On his Instagram account, Huang spruiks the Beijing-subsidised trips he has taken to places like Xinjiang, a region in China's north-west, and offers to help set up his followers on similar exchange programs targeted at Taiwanese youth. 'My friends have asked me: 'Hey, aren't you worried you are being brainwashed?'' says Huang, a pseudonym that he requested to speak openly about his experience. 'My response is: as long as you are resilient in your own mind, you won't be compromised by the influence coming from these trips.' As part of an eight-day tour to Xinjiang, Huang and about 30 other Taiwanese students and graduates were put up in 4-star hotels and treated to nightly banquets. By day, their itinerary included visits to museums and cultural activities, such as musical performances by Uyghur groups, an ethnic Muslim minority in Xinjiang. The activities were peppered with speeches from Chinese officials about Taiwan and China being 'one big family'. At one event, the group sang Tomorrow Will be Better, a Taiwanese pop song from the 1980s that has since been appropriated by Chinese state media to promote a message of unification between the democratic self-governing island and the mainland. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, even though the CCP has never controlled the island. The propaganda, Huang says, is the price participants pay for a cheap trip. He paid 20,000 Taiwanese dollars ($1043), about a 50 per cent discount, he says, with the rest subsidised by the Chinese government. But there was another subtle quid pro quo. During the tour, Chinese officials suggested the participants share their experience on social media and tell their friends that Xinjiang was not the terrible place portrayed by Taiwanese media. When he arrived back in Taiwan, Huang did just that. 'The magnificent scenes covered by a blanket of snow, the heaps of food I had, and the diversity of ethnic cultures and traditions I experienced – the list never ends, and the beauty of Xinjiang is beyond what photos and words can describe,' Huang posted on Instagram. He implored his friends to go and see for themselves. Huang made no mention of the reports, including those by the United Nations, of the brutal repression and human rights violations of the Uyghur population by Chinese authorities, claims which the Chinese government denies. Instead, he observed that the different ethnic groups got along with 'great friendliness and tolerance'. United Front campaign State-sponsored travel programs are hardly a new tool in Beijing's soft-power efforts to shape opinions in Taiwan in line with its foremost goal – to bring the island under the control of the Chinese government. But under President Lai Ching-te, the Taiwanese government has become increasingly concerned that Beijing is intensifying its propaganda, with study tours, tourism, cultural exchanges and social media influencers all spreading pro-Beijing messages to Taiwan's youth. These activities are widely suspected by Taiwanese authorities and Chinese analysts to be part of the operations of the United Front Work Department – the CCP's core influence arm that uses diaspora communities to promote Beijing's agenda overseas. China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Dr Nathan Attrill, a China specialist at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has tracked United Front activity relating to Taiwan. He identified 67 events in 2024 that sought to cultivate Taiwanese Youth and influencers, more than double the next most targeted group of businesses and entrepreneurs. 'The main themes of these sorts of events are always to emphasise a shared culture, or a shared heritage between the peoples of China and Taiwan, thereby establishing some sort of justification for why China claims to have sovereignty over Taiwan,' Attrill says. Beijing doesn't try hard to hide the United Front's involvement in these tours. The exchanges are often given effusive coverage in Chinese state media, which routinely notes the attendance of United Front officials or their associated organisations at the events. Trips to Xinjiang, a top destination for such cultural tours, serve the dual purpose of presenting a tightly orchestrated, sanitised image of the region while promoting the Chinese government's unification agenda, says Raymond Sung, vice president of the Prospect Foundation, a government-backed institute in Taipei. 'I do not support the idea of being fully controlled by China ... The only thing that I want to do is to foster cultural exchanges between the two sides.' Richard Huang 'By being a participant, you're actually sponsoring or being part of that [Chinese government propaganda],' Sung says. These kinds of exchanges, experts say, are also designed to cleave at the deep political polarisation in Taiwan. Lai's pro-independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party is reviled by Beijing as a separatist force, and bitterly opposed by Taiwan's main opposition party, the Kuomintang, which favours closer ties with the mainland. Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office has accused Lai's government of inciting anti-China sentiment by 'exaggerating the so-called united front threat' and 'using all means to intimidate and suppress groups and individuals on the island who support and participate in cross-strait exchanges'. For now, Beijing's charm offensive to win the hearts and minds of Taiwan's younger generations doesn't appear to be paying off. Polling consistently shows that a clear majority of people in Taiwan identify themselves as being solely Taiwanese. This rose to as high as 83 per cent for 18-34 year-olds, compared with 15 per cent who identified as being Taiwanese-Chinese and 1 per cent who considered themselves to be solely Chinese, according to a Pew Research survey in 2024. Tensions between propaganda and free speech Nonetheless, the Lai government this year has pursued a crackdown on China's united front and espionage efforts, including tighter regulation of cross-strait exchanges and new disclosure requirements for all public servants travelling to China on such trips. In February, Taiwan banned academic exchanges with three Chinese universities, citing concerns over political influence, and in March, authorities expelled three Chinese influencers for promoting 'unification by force' narratives on their social media accounts. The authorities have since revealed they are investigating 20 Taiwanese celebrities for amplifying CCP messaging. Building on the themes of this campaign, Lai embarked this week on a 10-stop speech tour across Taiwan under the banner of 'uniting the country' in the face of China's pressure. In his first speech on Sunday, he declared 'of course Taiwan is a country' and called for its future to be decided by its 23 million citizens, infuriating Chinese authorities, which slammed his speech as 'deliberately inciting provocations'. The expulsion of the Chinese influencers has fed into a broiling debate about free speech, and the curbs Taiwan is willing to put on its own democracy to counter the tactics of its authoritarian neighbour. Chinese-born influencer Liu Zhenya, who goes by 'Yaya in Taiwan', fell foul of Taiwanese authorities for video comments she made to her 400,000 followers on Douyin (Chinese TikTok), which included praising China's military drills around the island in May 2024. She expressed hope that by morning, 'the island will already be covered with red flags', a reference to China's flag. Taiwanese authorities deemed she had crossed a red line in advocating 'the elimination of our country's sovereignty'. 'There are limits to freedom of speech, and the limits are the country's survival,' Taiwan's Premier Cho Jung-tai said at the time. While Yaya's expulsion was celebrated in Taiwan's pro-independence circles, it was met with concerns about overreach in others. A group of 75 scholars co-signed a statement saying that democracy and the rule of law were 'facing unprecedented damage and threats' under the DPP's crackdown. Separately, academics Michelle Kuo and Albert Wu queried whether Yaya's videos, whilst repulsive in their view, were sufficient to constitute a national security threat and noted that any evidence of her CCP links had not been made public. Her deportation, they wrote on their blog, had 'only served to divide an already incredibly polarised society more, at a time when unity is more important than ever in the face of Chinese aggression'. ' Building a positive image of China' Huang is not an influencer. Nor, he says, is he a member of a political party, though he doesn't support Lai's DPP. His Instagram account has just 2200 followers, and he hasn't parroted Beijing's unification narrative. 'I do not support the idea of being fully controlled by China where we lose all of our freedoms,' he says. 'The majority of Taiwan will not accept this'. But he has become a facilitator, helping would-be participants navigate the online back-channels to those who organise the cultural tours, a role he says he receives no payment for, or any other in-kind benefit. There is nothing illegal in doing this, though he faces potential backlash from the online pro-independence crowd. Huang says he is not naive to the fact that the key reason Beijing funds such trips is to promote its unification agenda, and concedes his glowing testimonials feed its propaganda machine. 'The only thing that I want to do is to foster cultural exchanges between the two sides,' he says. 'If you're asking if that helps build a positive China image, then yes, that certainly is the case.'
The Hill
13 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
China's threat to Tibet's future should be a global concern
Three decades ago, China abducted the Panchen Lama — then a six-year-old boy — shortly after his recognition by the Dalai Lama, and installed a regime-picked imposter in his place. That abduction, one of the most audacious acts of spiritual and cultural repression in modern history, still haunts the Tibetan people. Yet Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting with the false Panchen Lama this month has served only to remind the world of the genuine Panchen Lama's continued disappearance. That makes the Panchen Lama — the second-highest spiritual leader in Tibetan Buddhism — arguably the longest-held political prisoner anywhere. Now, Xi is preparing to repeat that sinister act on a much grander scale. He is waiting for the Dalai Lama, who turns 90 on July 6, to pass away so that Beijing can impose its own puppet as the next spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. This would be akin to the Italian government installing a state-appointed pope to lead the Catholic Church, a brazen affront to religious freedom and cultural sovereignty. China's ambitions go far beyond symbolism. With Xi's regime intensifying efforts to erase Tibetan culture, language and identity, the looming succession of the Dalai Lama marks a pivotal and dangerous turning point. Although the Dalai Lama has yet to clarify the exact process for selecting his successor, Beijing is zealously laying the groundwork to seize control of Tibetan Buddhism from within. The paradox is stark: The atheistic Chinese Communist Party is preparing to hand-pick the next Dalai Lama, even while escalating its crackdown on Tibetan religion and culture. Xi has called on Communist Party cadres to become 'unyielding Marxist atheists,' effectively elevating communism to the level of a state religion. The goal is clear: to fashion a successor who pledges loyalty not to Tibetan Buddhism, but to the Chinese Communist Party. But Tibet's plight is not just spiritual or cultural — it is also ecological and geopolitical. The Tibetan Plateau, often dubbed the 'Third Pole,' is Asia's primary freshwater source and a cradle of biodiversity. It is the starting point of the continent's major river systems, which sustain over 2 billion people downstream. China's aggressive exploitation of Tibet's natural resources, particularly water and minerals, has created long-term environmental risks for all of Asia. Beijing is building mega-dams and water diversion projects that threaten to destabilize ecosystems and disrupt hydrological flows far beyond its borders. Tibet's high altitude also plays a critical role in shaping monsoonal patterns and global atmospheric circulation. A 2023 scientific study even found an atmospheric connection between the Tibetan Plateau and the Amazon rainforest — proof that the world's environmental fate is tied to Tibet's future. Despite its annexation in 1951, Tibet maintains a vibrant spirit of resistance. The Dalai Lama, viewed by Tibetans as the living embodiment of compassion and wisdom, remains their moral and spiritual leader. His renunciation of political power in 2011 in favor of a democratically elected government-in-exile only reinforced his legacy as a global symbol of nonviolent resistance. That legacy remains untainted by any link to terrorism, even as China continues to militarize and repress Tibet. Under Xi, repression has intensified, with mass surveillance, religious restrictions and the forced assimilation of Tibetan children into Mandarin-language boarding schools — more than a million children are now separated from their families and culture. The unmistakable goal is to breed loyalty to the Communist Party by obliterating the Tibetan identity. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama's health has declined. Following radiation therapy for prostate cancer in 2016 and knee replacement surgery in the U.S. last year, his international travel has drastically reduced. Adding to the challenge is Beijing's success in pressuring many countries — including Western democracies and Buddhist-majority states in Asia — to deny him entry. Only Japan has held firm. India, to its credit, remains the Tibetan leader's sanctuary and moral ally, with New Delhi referring to him as 'our most esteemed guest.' The Dalai Lama himself calls India his spiritual and cultural home. Against this backdrop, China's strategy to engineer the next Dalai Lama must be met with firm resistance. The stakes could not be higher — the continuity of Tibetan Buddhism as a living spiritual tradition hangs in the balance. To counter Beijing's plan, a coordinated international response is urgently needed to affirm the right of Tibetan Buddhists to determine their own spiritual leadership without interference. Fortunately, the U.S. has taken some meaningful steps. Its 2020 Tibetan Policy and Support Act affirms that the selection of the next Dalai Lama is solely a Tibetan religious matter. It explicitly warns of sanctions against Chinese officials who meddle in the process. In July 2024, President Joe Biden signed into law the bipartisan Resolve Tibet Act, which strengthens American policy in support of Tibetan self-determination and seeks to counter Chinese disinformation campaigns on Tibet. But more must be done. The U.S. and India should forge a united front and rally other democracies to support the Dalai Lama's vision and the Tibetan people's rights. The Dalai Lama's succession should be protected through a multilateral framework that involves Buddhist leaders, legal protections and diplomatic safeguards. China's effort to manipulate the centuries-old institution of the Dalai Lama is not merely a religious affront. It is a geopolitical gambit designed to consolidate control and extend influence across Asia. If Tibet's voice is silenced and its future dictated by authoritarian fiat, the global costs — in spiritual, ecological and political terms — will be immense. Tibet's imperiled future is not just a Tibetan problem. It is a challenge to the international order, to religious freedom and to the environmental security of an entire continent. And the time to act is now. Brahma Chellaney is a geostrategist and the author of nine books, including the award-winning 'Water: Asia's New Battleground.'
Miami Herald
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Czech Intelligence Reveals China Plan to Crash Into Taiwan Vice President-Elect
Chinese agents operating out of Beijing's embassy in Prague planned to stage a car collision targeting Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim during her visit to the Czech capital last year, according to an explosive report. The Czech Republic's military intelligence chief condemned the plot to intimidate Hsiao, which was ultimately not carried out, describing it as "unprecedented" by China in Europe. Newsweek reached out to the Chinese embassy in Prague via emailed request for comment. China claims Taiwan—formally known as the Republic of China—as its territory, though the island has never been governed by the Chinese Communist Party. Taiwan functions as a de facto sovereign state, with its own legal system, military and international relations. China has frequently pressured other countries not to engage with Taiwanese officials. In 2022, China temporarily blocked trade with Lithuania after the Baltic nation allowed Taiwan to open a representative office using the name "Taiwan," a move Beijing viewed as a challenge to its "One China" policy. Chinese agents plotted a "demonstrative kinetic action" targeting Hsiao during her March 2024 visit to Prague, her first trip abroad since she and President Lai Ching-te's election victory, according to Czech military intelligence cited by public broadcaster Czech Radio. Agency director Petr Bartovský told Czech Radio that the plan involved staging a collision with the car carrying Hsiao, though he confirmed the attempt "did not go beyond the planning stage." However, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light in central Prague while trying to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese delegation. Military intelligence spokesperson Jan Pejšek said China's actions were bordering on endangering Hsiao and that Chinese officials had been "gathering information about her schedule, and attempting to document her meetings with prominent figures from the Czech political and public spheres." The vice president was not considered to be in real danger, however, as Czech security forces were present and ready to intervene if necessary, per the report. Czech Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariana Wernerová declined to provide details, citing the sensitivity of the case, but confirmed the ministry had communicated with Beijing about the events. Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo condemned China's actions, thanked Czech authorities and said Taiwanese security was aware of the intelligence at the time, Focus Taiwan reported. Jan Pejšek, spokesperson for the Czech Military Intelligence Service, told Czech Radio: "These activities, which flagrantly violate the obligations arising from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, were carried out, among other things, by persons legalized in diplomatic positions at the Chinese Embassy in Prague." Kuang-ting Chen, a lawmaker in Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "Hiding behind diplomatic immunity to interfere with another nation's sovereignty and endanger personal safety is a flagrant violation of international law. This incident once again exposes Beijing's export of authoritarianism and pattern of transnational repression." The intelligence report is likely to boost pro-Taiwan sentiment in Prague, already strong in light of Chinese pressure campaigns in recent years. Asked to comment on the report Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the Czech Republic had seriously violated the One China Principle by allowing "Taiwan independence hardliners" such as Hsiao to visit. "I want to emphasize that Chinese diplomatic personnel have always adhered to the laws and regulations of the host country. China urges the relevant parties not to be provoked or manipulated by Taiwan independence separatist forces, and not to create unnecessary trouble or malicious hype that undermines bilateral relations," he added. President Lai's Beijing-skeptic administration is expected to continue sending Taiwanese delegations overseas to shore up ties with friendly countries. Related Articles China Issues Update After Trump Reveals Trade DealChina Sends Stark Warning to US AllyChinese Satellite Image Shows Destruction of Iran Drone FactoryChina to Hegseth: US on Path to 'Fire and Suffering' 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
The Diplomat
17 hours ago
- Politics
- The Diplomat
Hong Kong's Latest National Security Taboos: 4th of July and a Video Game
Following the Hong Kong authorities' ban of the allegedly 'seditious' mobile game 'Reversed Front: Bonfire,' the Hong Kong education bureau warned teachers against participating in U.S. Independence Day celebrations in the city. The latest restrictions represent yet another phase in the Hong Kong authorities' quest to coerce full allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party regime. Teachers are just the latest group affected by tightening restrictions and moves toward ideological conformity in Hong Kong. As The Guardian reported, a school principal texted staff advising them 'to be careful about Independence Day activities organised by the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong, and not to participate to avoid violating the national security law and Hong Kong laws.' Staff were also told to seek approval before attending such events and to discourage student participation. Notably, the Education Bureau did not specify which laws would be breached by attending Fourth of July events, leaving teachers and students vulnerable to vaguely determined consequences by the Hong Kong government. The Hong Kong government's sensitivity around U.S. Independence Day events may stem from the 2019 pro-democracy movement, when many Hong Kongers espoused American ideals such as liberty and self-governance. Protesters often waved American flags at rallies, believing their call for change paralleled grievances from the American Revolution, like 'taxation without representation.' The Hong Kong government's threats of legal consequences for teachers and students who wish to attend the U.S. Consulate's Fourth of July celebration, or to celebrate in any other way, expose the ongoing erosion of the freedom of expression and the greater dismantling of the education system in Hong Kong. What once was a pluralistic and globally connected system is increasingly constrained by ideological policing. This censorship echoes other recent moves by the authorities, including the banning of 'Reversed Front: Bonfire,' a mobile strategy game in which players can support the independence of groups from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, and Xinjiang (or, alternatively, 'choose to lead the Communists to defeat all enemies,' as the game's description puts it). On June 10, the Hong Kong National Security Department warned that downloading or sharing the game could constitute 'incitement to secession' or 'subversion' under Hong Kong's National Security Law. The National Security Department disabled action on electronic messages related to the mobile game, and the game has been removed from major app stores in the region. The crackdown on 'Reversed Front: Bonfire' resembles earlier efforts to suppress the freedom of expression, such as the banning of children's books that allegorically depicted wolves (representing the Chinese Communist Party) invading sheep villages (symbolizing Hong Kong). In both cases, metaphor and fiction are treated as threats to national security. These actions suggest an increasingly brittle government that responds to children's books, digital games, and foreign holidays with legal threats and censorship. The fear of the authorities around the Fourth of July reveals their increasing insecurities around Hong Kongers setting off their own fireworks in response to the increasing crackdown on their human rights. The U.S. Consulate has already responded. In a statement to the Associated Press, it condemned the repression of U.S. Independence Day celebrations, noting that the Hong Kong authorities' 'attempts to characterize these activities as 'unlawful' only further reveals its insecurity and fear of freedom.' If celebrating the Fourth of July or downloading a mobile game can be deemed a threat, it raises serious questions about the future of civil liberties in Hong Kong. While the city's government claims to safeguard national security, it increasingly does so at the cost of international human rights norms, including freedom of thought, expression, and belief. Looking ahead, there is another troubling implication: if holidays like the Fourth of July are now suspect, others such as Christmas and Easter may be next, given that they present narratives inconsistent with the official ideology of the Chinese Communist Party. Defenders of basic freedoms, both inside and outside Hong Kong, must take note. The situation calls for sustained international scrutiny and action. It is time for the United Nations and democratic nations to treat these escalating restrictions not as isolated incidents, but as part of a systematic dismantling of freedoms in a once-open society.
